The Board Game Design Lab

Latest Episodes:

Designing Greeting Card Games with Jess Metheringham Apr 13, 2022

Show notes

Jess Metheringham, founder of Dissent Games, talks about designing games that are housed completely on greeting cards. We talk about the value of constraints, holiday themes, and more.

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How to Design a Race Game with Kathleen Mercury Apr 06, 2022

Show notes

Kathleen Mercury, designer of Greece Lightning, talks about designing race games.
We talk about meshing a racing theme with mechanisms that actually feel like a race, different ways to win, general design concepts, and more.

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How to Design Asymmetrical Games with Stephen Schwartz and Floyd Lu Mar 30, 2022

Show notes

Stephen Schwartz and Floyd Lu, designers of Slash and Spells, talk about designing asymmetrical games.
We talk about creating interesting differences, balancing factions, the challenges of playtesting these kinds of games, and more.

And be sure to check out Stephen and Floyd’s game on Kickstarter HERE!

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How to Design Route Building Games with Ted Alspach Mar 23, 2022

Show notes

Ted Alspach, designer of Maglev Metro and several other route building games, talks about what makes these games special.
We talk about themes that mesh well with the mechanism, end conditions, keeping players interested, and more.

The post How to Design Route Building Games with Ted Alspach appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

[BGDL Community Spotlight] Print-on-Demand Publishing with Arthur Franz Mar 16, 2022

Show notes

Arthur Franz, founder of Uplink Underground Games, discusses what it looks like to run a publishing company that’s based on print-on-demand manufacturing.

We talk about pros and cons, pricing challenges, community building, and more.

The post [BGDL Community Spotlight] Print-on-Demand Publishing with Arthur Franz appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

[BGDL Community Spotlight] Designing an Abstract Dexterity Game with Frank Sarro Mar 16, 2022

Show notes

Frank Sarro, designer of Pathways, talks about abstract dexterity games. We get into component quality, manufacturing challenges, complexity, and more.

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The Design Process of Phil Walker-Harding Mar 09, 2022

Show notes

Phil Walker-Harding, designer of Sushi Go, Barenpark, Imhotep, Gizmos, and several other great games, takes us behind the scenes of his personal design process.
We talk about coming up with ideas, honing big ideas into super fun games, knowing when to walk away from a design, pitching to publishers, and more.

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How to Multiply Your Time with Carla Kopp Mar 02, 2022

Show notes

Carla Kopp, from Weird Giraffe Games, discusses how to multiply your time and get more done.
Carla runs multiple companies while also designing games and creating solo modes for other designers’ games, so she’s had to figure out how to create more hours in the day. We talk about time management, scheduling, and all sorts of other things.

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How to Design 2 Player Games with Alf Seegert Feb 23, 2022

Show notes

Alf Seegert, designer of Haven, discusses how to design two-player games.
Alf has designed several published two-player games, and we talk about tension, component limitations, delivering on expectations, and more. Alf Seegert’s Designer Diary for his latest game, Illumination, which includes a lot of information about his other games as well. His website. You can find his games at Eagle-Gryphon Games, the easiest place to order Illumination, The Road to Canterbury, Fantastiqa, Heir to the Pharaoh, and others if you can’t find them at your FLGS. Many Alf Seegert games are on sale, and Heir to the Pharaoh is half off!

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Community Building with Carol Mertz and Elan Lee Feb 16, 2022

Show notes

Carol Mertz and Elan Lee, from Exploding Kittens, discuss how to build a community.
We talk about their record-setting Kickstarter campaign, building relationships with customers, guerrilla marketing techniques, and what it looks like to focus on the “crowd” portion of crowdfunding.

And be sure to check out their latest Kickstarter project, Hand to Hand Wombat, HERE.

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